The galaxy was filled with silence at that instant. Su Ming stared at the four cultivators, and the four cultivators stared back at him. No one spoke. After some time, Xu Hui"s fake cough broke the silence, and it caused the four cultivators to recover from their shock.
They were not shocked due to Su Ming"s arrival. After all, this was within the scope of what they had expected to happen, and they were already prepared for it. What they were shocked about was the bald crane.
The ferocious beast they idolized slightly and even dreamed about taming when they became stronger in the future already… already had a master. They did not know of the bald crane"s specific level of cultivation. Even if they noticed that it was not really that strong when they saw it now and sensed its power with their hearts, they still believed that the crane they initially saw leading one million beasts into a state of frenzy was definitely not an ordinary crane, since there were two things in the universe called hiding a one"s true power and seals.
At that moment, as their hearts were in a state of shock and Xu Hui"s fake cough echoed in s.p.a.ce, the four cultivators moved back practically on instinct. Xuan Shang only managed to take three steps back before he forced himself to stop. He knew that he could not escape, and he couldn"t bring himself to even give rise to the thought of attacking. Even if the four of them had their killing moves… Su Ming alone was enough to make their minds crumble, and that bald crane was also around.
The grin on the woman beside Su Ming also terrified him.
Xuan Shang was not the only one who was sensible among the four cultivators. Hua Yu snapped to his senses after he retreated one hundred something feet. When he saw that Su Ming and the others did not chase after them, he forced himself to a halt while feeling anxious, then wrapped his fist in his palm and bowed towards Su Ming and his group.
Yun You and Nian Yin were slightly slower in terms of reaction. At that moment, they were already a hundred thousand feet away. But just as they were about to charge even farther ahead with Fleeing Blood, ripples shone in the s.p.a.ce in front of them, and Xu Hui walked out from them.
She was still grinning, but there was a murderous look in her eyes. She was slightly angry. After all, these four people had only started fleeing after she coughed.
"Why did you run after seeing me?"
Once Xu Hui walked out, she lifted her right hand and swung it before herself. With it, the image of the moon appeared in front of her, and Yun You and Nian Yin"s expressions instantly changed.
"Lunar Kalpa Realm!"
The two of them instantly moved and split up to run in two different directions. The one called Yun You noticed that two of his companions had already given up on escaping, so with a bitter laugh, he stopped as well.
Only Nian Yin continued charging forward at full speed, even coughing up blood to execute Fleeing Blood. His speed increased exponentially, but before he could move ten thousand feet away from Xu Hui, his body manifested from the blood shadow, and as he screamed in pain, he coughed up blood again. Strangely, there was nothing bizarre around him, but his body still tumbled backwards, as if he had been bounced back by an invisible barrier.
As he fell back, his hair looked as if it was seized by an invisible hand, which was dragging him back.
When the cultivator called Nian Yin was thrown to the spot in front of the Void Beast where Su Ming was, most of his hair had been ripped off. Blood filled the entirety of his face, and it was flowing down his cheeks. His face was filled with shock and disbelief as he stared at Xu Hui, who walked out of the s.p.a.ce beside him.
"Go on, run. Why aren"t you running anymore?" Xu Hui asked with a grin, then raised her right hand and pointed at Nian Yin. Two wisps of red and white smoke surrounded him, and at the instant they touched his body, the red smoke fused into his chest, and the white smoke disappeared into his throat and lower region.
The expressions of the other three cultivators changed drastically, and they even let out shocked cries, because they immediately saw Nian Yin"s originally flat chest… rise up!
His Adam"s apple shrank before their eyes until it disappeared, and his rough skin turned light in the blink of an eye. His fingers turned smooth, so they looked lithe and soft. From all of these physical changes, it was evident that… the Yin and Yang aura of this person had been reversed, and he changed from a man… to a woman!
Nian Yin was momentarily stunned before he let out a shrill scream of pain. Yet even his screams had a sharp edge to them. They were no longer as sonorous and deep as those of a man"s voice, but had become as gentle as those of a woman.
His changes were quite evident regarding his posterior, too. As his body changed, it clearly grew in size. In fact, the lines of his body had become curved.
All of this brought about an indescribable shock and terror to the other three cultivators. And even Su Ming felt his eyelids twitch. His heart thumped rapidly a few times in his chest, and when he looked towards Xu Hui after that, a hint of wariness appeared in his eyes.
The bald crane also widened its eyes. This scene caused it to shudder, and even the Abyss Dragon by its side instinctively moved back. When it looked at Xu Hui, its gaze was filled with terror.
"A cultivator prefers death to humiliation [1]!"
Nian Yin"s expression was filled with bitterness. He was the one who knew all the changes in his body the clearest. At that moment, he could no longer describe the complicated feelings in his heart. There was grief and indignation within him as he shouted at Xu Hui.
Su Ming frowned. He could kill a person without hesitation… but he would not be able to humiliate someone like this. But just as he was about to speak, the cultivator whose physical characteristics had been changed shouted again.
"I have no grudge or enmity with you, and we only ran into each other due to coincidence! If you do this, aren"t you afraid of being punished by heaven?! Aren"t you afraid of receiving retribution?! Come! If you want to kill me, then kill me!"
Xu Hui chuckled softly.
"You make yourself sound really reasonable. When my husband met you the first time, he did not attack you. It"s normal for you to want to run, since you harbor secrets within you, but not being able to escape means that you are simply not good enough. We caught up to you, and my husband was not even thinking of punis.h.i.+ng you too greatly. He just intended to question you a little. If you answered frankly, with my understanding towards him, you would have parted ways peacefully.
"Besides, you are in Divine Essence Star Ocean. Your power is not sufficient for you to dig out any sort of secrets. If my husband joined you, the possibility of you becoming successful would increase by several fold. What"s not good about it?
"But I only coughed once and you ran. You didn"t manage to escape in the end, but now you"re shouting with righteous indignation," Xu Hui said with a smile.
Xuan Shang and the other two fell silent, and a contemplative look appeared on their faces. Xu Hui"s words were not domineering in their ears, and the truth was just as she said, so the trio could not help but start to think about it.
However, Nian Yin"s heart was in turmoil due to his physical characteristics having been changed. He refused to register even a single word from Xu Hui speech and let out a cold snort. Yet the moment he did that, Xu Hui"s next sentence immediately caused his expression to change drastically.
"The Art you practice should be the Great Annual Wheel Dharma Art. I only noticed it just now, and judging from this, your family name is Nian, and you came from True Morning Dao World.
"Let me think. The Nian Hua Family from True Morning Dao World is a family built by a sect that dissociated themselves from the Immortals in the past. Three thousand something years ago, a family member killed another member of his family, and when he was captured, his cultivation base was destroyed and he was sent into the Barren Lands of Divine Essence as a punishment. That person is you, right?
"But your cultivation base is still around. Looks like the Nian Hua Family is behind you in this operation of yours."
"Who are you?!" As Nian Yin"s expression changed, Xuan Shang and the other two cultivators" pupils shrank in fear. They looked towards Xu Hui simultaneously.
"Me? My name is Xu Hui, and I"m from Phoenix Sect." Xu Hui smiled faintly and looked at Su Ming, who was frowning clearly slightly displeased in his heart.
"Phoenix Sect?! Xu Hui… You are Phoenix Sect"s Sacred Lady!"
Nian Yin was momentarily stunned, then all his anger drained away from him. He became dispirited, and in his anguish, he gave up on all forms of resistance. In fact, from the changes of his expression, it was clear that he was filled with alarm and fear towards Phoenix Sect.
"That"s right. It is the Phoenix Sect which all cultivators secretly refer to as the Sinister Sect in True Morning Dao World, and I am the Scorpion Lady Xu Hui, one of the two you secretly refer to as the Snake and Scorpion Ladies," Xu Hui said with a grin. This was the first time Su Ming heard this, and he was stunned. These things did not exist in Dao Kong"s memories, which was perhaps related to Dao Kong"s status and experiences.
In fact, Su Ming had always been slightly puzzled as to why Dao Kong had so few memories. After all, the more memories a living creature had, the more difficult it would be to Possess that person, and Dao Kong"s memories were only the basics of what a person would have.
Scorpion Lady Xu Hui—this was how the cultivators in True Morning Dao Sect secretly referred to one of the two great Sacred Ladies in Phoenix Sect. Based on the t.i.tle itself, there was definitely a reason behind why Phoenix Sect was privately known as the Sinister Sect.
Su Ming was silent. He suddenly understood why Xu Hui had no qualms whatsoever when she did something. If she had such a "great" reputation in the world outside, then it was surely related to her actions when she was in True Morning Dao Sect.
Scorpions were venomous, but the venom did not lie in their mouths, and neither was it in their claws. Instead, it was contained in their tails. They were incredibly quick and small, which would mean that they would not bring about too much attention from others. However, at a critical moment, just the slightest mistake on their enemies" part would mean death form venom. This was the terrifying aspect of scorpions.
Snakes were skilled in hiding and waiting. Usually, they would hide their venomous fangs and would not casually reveal them. They would lie still without moving for long periods of time, but once they moved, they would kill. This comparison reminded Su Ming of another girl, which was related to a pain-filled first love.
He had known a long time ago that there were two Sacred Ladies in Phoenix Sect. One of them was Xu Hui, and the other… was the Snake Lady Bai Ling. This was something he knew from Dao Kong"s memories.
In fact, Su Ming knew that there was a high possibility that Xu Hui had known about his name since a long time ago, whether it would be because Bai Ling had told her or because Xu Hui would have secretly investigated him. Either way, there was a high chance that she knew about him.
That was why Xu Hui had been able to say right from the get go that Su Ming was thinking about a woman when they were in the mountain of the Ninth Tribe. It was also that one sentence of her that had sunk him into a dream that should not have been seen by cultivators, but had been seen by him.
It was at that time that Su Ming came to know that he was obsessed with the promise itself, and not Bai Ling. He had then put an end to that burden in his heart and walked through a change of heart.
Su Ming did not believe that this was a coincidence, but no matter what, he could tell that Xu Hui"s actions were mostly filled with good intentions in regards to that matter. That was why he had never pointed it out.
Translator"s Note:
1. A cultivator prefers death to humiliation: The original is "a scholar prefers death to humiliation". Since we"re in this context, I thought it would be more appropriate to say cultivator instead of scholar.